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Categories: Volunteer Management Review
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[Editor's note:  Part 1 is available online here.]

“Well, what I am really looking for is a paid job.” Do you dread hearing those words? If a recent survey of Baby Boomers is correct, volunteer managers are likely to hear them more and more.

According to Merrill Lynch’s “The New Retirement Survey,” 76% of Baby Boomers intend to work well into the traditional retirement years. At around age 64, Boomers say they will leave their current careers and find new jobs. Most (42%) see themselves cycling back and forth between periods of full-time work and full-time leisure in their 60’s and 70’s. Smaller numbers of Boomers plan to work part-time (16%), start small businesses (13%) or continue working full-time (6%). Only 17% anticipate a traditional retirement of never working for pay again. Of course, all Baby Boomers will eventually retire but this is more likely to happen in their late 70s than 60 or 65.

At first glance, this looks like bad news for volunteerism. If Boomers en masse are going to work in their primary careers until age 64 and then continue to work on a serial or part-time basis well into their 70’s, where will we find the volunteers we so desperately need over the next decade? Of course, once Boomers reach 64 (the oldest are now 60) they will have more free time and be more available for volunteering. Even then, though, volunteering will face stiff competition from other leisure time pursuits such as babysitting, travel, taking classes, etc.

How, then, do we persuade Baby Boomers to choose volunteering as their leisure time activity? Part 1 of this article suggested that we present volunteering to Boomers as a way of pursuing their passions. Here one more approach is suggested. We can attract Boomers to service by showing them that volunteering can assist them in qualifying for retirement jobs.

If the Merrill Lynch study is correct, Boomers will be doing a lot of career transitioning after age 64. This presents an opportunity for volunteerism because, as we know, volunteering can help Boomers achieve their career goals. While career-transitioning Boomers are unlikely to give us the years of volunteering their fully retired, GI Generation parents did, they may give us months of high skilled help if we meet them where they are. In transitioning from their primary occupations to post-career jobs, Baby Boomers will be looking for a very different kind of work – one that is more flexible and expressive of dreams and passions.

Some third quarter of life career changes may be quite radical. An engineer, for example, might volunteer with a crisis helpline while returning to school to become a mental health counselor. A teacher may volunteer as a board member or special event coordinator while finishing a MBA and seeking work as a corporate executive. Most Boomers will make less radical changes but they too can benefit from volunteering. For example, a Boomer might volunteer in a gift shop or thrift store to obtain work experience and references for a part-time job in retail. The same volunteer might use his volunteer experience in starting a small business as a gift basket designer, personal shopper, consignment shop owner or eBay trader.

Some Baby Boomers, it appears, will be making a transition from for-profit to not-for-profit work in their 60’s. Both the Merrill Lynch study cited above and the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures’ “New Face of Work Survey” found that Boomers are expressing a greater interest in giving back to the community than might be expected from the “Me” generation. The conclusion of the Civic Ventures’ study was that “half of Americans 50 to 70 wants jobs that contribute to the greater good now and in retirement.” If this holds true, Baby Boomers may be attracted to volunteering as a means of gaining nonprofit work experience, human service skills or even paid jobs with our organizations. While listing volunteer work on a resume can help any jobseeker stand out in an interview, it is particularly vital to those who seek employment in the nonprofit sector.

It may seem like a hard sell to convince Boomers that volunteering can help them land their next retirement job, but many already know that to be true. In a recent letter to the editor of Business Week, the CEO of Deloitte and Touche reported the findings of a survey conducted by his company. Some 86% of Americans, he reported, “believe volunteering can have a positive impact on their careers.” Seventy-eight percent, he added, “see volunteering as an opportunity to develop business skills, including decision-making, problem-solving and negotiating.”

Working with the Career-Transitioning Baby Boomer

How, then, do we work with the career-transitioning Baby Boomer volunteer?

1. Address the issue squarely. Don’t be shy about bringing up the issue of paid work with Baby Boomers. You might simply ask, “Are you ultimately looking to find paid work?” If the prospective volunteer answers “yes,” that is your cue to begin talking about volunteering as a career transition strategy. The obvious next question to ask is “what kind of paid work are you looking for?”

2. Conduct some kind of objective assessment of the volunteer’s interests, skills or values. Some career-transitioning Boomers will have a clear idea of the paid work they are looking for and what they need from volunteering to get there. Many will not. Volunteer managers can provide a valuable service to these volunteers by assessing with them. The goal is not to provide career counseling. It is simply to help the career-transitioning volunteer get clearer about the paid work he or she is looking for. This will also benefit the volunteer manager. A deeper understanding of the Boomer’s interests, skills and values will enable you to place him or her in the opportunity with the greatest potential payoff for both the volunteer and your organization. Unfortunately, there is no widely accepted interest inventory specifically designed for use with volunteers. In an attempt to fill the gap, the author of this article created a prototype of such an inventory that can be accessed on the web at www.volunteeropportunitiesfinder.com. The Volunteer Opportunities Finder consists of an online interest inventory and a search engine that automatically identifies the opportunities that match the user’s interests, skills and values. The tool makes use of the six interest types – realistic, artistic, investigative, social, enterprising and conventional – identified by John Holland and used by career counselors through out the world. Of course, many other assessment tools, while not specifically keyed to volunteer opportunities, can prove useful to volunteer managers. Examples would include the Self-Directed Search, Myers-Briggs Types Indicator and the Strong Interest Inventory. Some must assessment tools must be purchased; others are available free on the web.

3. Identify the obstacles that are preventing the volunteer from qualifying for the paid work he or she desires and show him or her how volunteering can help. For example, is the volunteer in need of new skills? A volunteer can gain skills for a paid job by doing equivalent volunteer work. For example, the engineer transitioning to counseling mentioned earlier volunteered on a crisis hotline to gain helping skills. That same volunteer, however, might have learned skills essential to social work in less obviously related work. For example, active listening skills and social perceptiveness can be gained in volunteer work as varied as hospital escorting, coaching, firefighting and working at a library circulation desk. Volunteer managers need to know the skills involved in the opportunities they offer. Transferable skills, abilities that apply across a broad spectrum of occupations, are particularly important to identify. Examples include teamwork, the ability to communicate, initiative, willingness to accept responsibility, time management and computer literacy.
   
   Other job search obstacles that can be addressed through volunteering include a lack of relevant work experience and training, uncertainly whether a new kind of work will prove enjoyable, the need to develop a broader network or lacking work-related references for a resume.

4. Develop an action plan. Volunteer managers can play an ongoing role in assisting their volunteers who are transitioning to paid work. The manager can act as a coach meeting with the volunteer from time to time to provide encouragement and to assess how the skill-acquisition process is going. He or she can arrange for a performance review to be conducted with the volunteer near the projected date of departure. The volunteer manager can also keep the volunteer in mind for more challenging, skill-building opportunities as they become available.

Understanding the career transition needs of Boomers also presents an opportunity. Consider opportunities to talk to retirement-bound Boomers about using volunteering for this purpose during retirement planning events put on by corporations and community education programs. The “give to get” offer you make will appeal to – and serve – Boomers in transition.